Seattle considers another tax hike, this time for libraries

A month after voters nearly doubled their taxes by approving a new schools levy, Seattle officials are considering another levy for next August’s ballot, this time for libraries.

The last time the libraries got a levy boost was in 1998, with the $196 million “Libraries for All” measure. That funded four new libraries and upgrades for all branches in the city’s system.

Since then, the recession has taken its toll on the Seattle Public Library, with fewer operating hours, fewer books, longer waits for materials, and a week-long closure every year.

Of the system’s 26 neighborhood branches, 15 have cut back hours and are now closed Friday and Sunday. The budget for books and other materials has dwindled by 13 percent in the last two years.

“Since 2009, the Library has implemented significant budget reductions in response to the severe economic recession,” City Librarian Marcellus Turner wrote in a memo to the Seattle City Council. Turner was expected to brief a Council committee on the potential levy Monday.

His memo contained no estimates on how much the levy might cost property owners. But it said Seattle’s levies typically cost less than the statutory limit of $3.60 per $1,000 of assessed value. The idea comes a month after 59 percent of voters approved a $232 million levy for schools.

In 2010, officials began exploring ways to increase revenue for the library system, with such ideas as creating an independent district and annexing to King County’s library district. Both ideas need state legislation and were rejected.